Portfolio of the Week

[ParkTwain]

Well, WHAT CAN I SAY (other than "I never sold at the top," like Bernard Baruch)?

I want some kind of PRIZE for this week, regardless. "Too much of a good thing is WONDERFUL."

[ParkTwain]

AZL was an awesome pick, Park! It appears you pulled the plug on it a little early, but terrific gain nevertheless! No ... I didn't buy any. If I had it would probably have just sat there or even gone down.

Well, consider what I was seeing at 10am today, when the volume at that point was not remarkable, so I was expecting a fade today. Since then I only looked at the quotes again a few minutes ago, so of course I am astonished at both the price and volume action.

[Rob]

Rob,
MED Long please. That was a great play Park. Can't believe you exited so soon. Barring someone else coming from back out of the pack I need MED to go to 13.55/13.60 range to just sneak in. Still a little bit of time left.

Fortunately for you, Skiracer, the price of MED was lower at 2:20 than it was at 1:24, or your entry price would have increased. This is why it is a baaaaad practice to edit your pick post.

[peanuts]

Fortunately for you, Skiracer, the price of MED was lower at 2:20 than it was at 1:24, or your entry price would have increased. This is why it is a baaaaad practice to edit your pick post.

wait, what's this.... Skiracer has exposed a loophole??? Awesome! So, if we want to change our entry price then we edit the original post?

[Rob]

So, if we want to change our entry price then we edit the original post?

It can only change to your disadvantage. It can never change to your advantage. The only way it can change to your advantage is if you edit the TICKER SYMBOL of your original pick. And if you're ever caught doing that, you will be summarily banned from the contest, rolled in the briar patch, tarred, feathered, and run out o' town on a rail.

[skiracer]

Fortunately for you, Skiracer, the price of MED was lower at 2:20 than it was at 1:24, or your entry price would have increased. This is why it is a baaaaad practice to edit your pick post.

First of all I wasn't trying to do anything underhanded and it's apparent that the buy post was timed at 1:24 pm. Since it was the last post on the POTW thread when I wanted to say that to Park, I elected to just edit it and add those comments which were also timed separately from the first buy post. I don't see how anyone could be misled or misconstrue the times on the original buy post and the edit since they are two entirely different times. But sorry if I caused any confusion with the edit. I never gave it a second thought that anyone would see the entry as anything except at 1:24 pm which was my intention from the start. So figure the time of the entry at 1:24 pm, which was the time of the first post please, and what I meant and wanted from the start. Thanks Rob.

[Rob]

First of all I wasn't trying to do anything underhanded and it's apparent that the buy post was timed at 1:24 pm [. . .]

You sound irritated and defensive. I was only using this as an example to you and to others what can possibly happen if you edit the post in which your pick was made. This very thing happened to Peanuts a couple of months ago, only in his case it DID negatively affect his entry price. (Remember, Peanuts?) I only wanted to caution you not to get into the habit of doing that.

[ringo69]

Rob,
MED Long please. That was a great play Park. Can't believe you exited so soon. Barring someone else coming from back out of the pack I need MED to go to 13.55/13.60 range to just sneak in. Still a little bit of time left.

Ski,

I am still holding out that MED will reach 12.50.

[peanuts]

...This very thing happened to Peanuts a couple of months ago, only in his case it DID negatively affect his entry price. (Remember, Peanuts?)

huh? what? dang short term memory loss... now I remember

[Rob]

Week 49 (10), Final Results, “Never a Dull Moment”

Well there's never a dull moment here at the ol' POTW. At the start of the week it looked like that whimsical whiz-kid, Gwhiz, was wanting to whisk his way to the winner's circle again, until ... "Houston, we have a problem." Houston Wire & Cable (HWCC) got "stripped" of its early gains, leaving the whiz kid with little "insulation" from the ravages of Wall St.

Then Mr. Goober Peas surprised everybody, blasting off the next two days into the stratosphere with his Under Armour (UARM) pick, before he treated us all to a public display of self-inflicted ritual disembowelment, known as hara-kiri (often pronounced "Harry Caray") with his long-shot pick of Food Technology Services (VIFL).


Enter Park Twain, also known as Biff Clemens, Samuel Clemens' long-lost brother (the one the family doesn't want to talk about). With a one-two punch combination of a left jab and a right uppercut, he sent us all reelin' and a rockin' ... rollin' till the break o' dawn. The left jab was Fibernet Telecom (FTGX), and that painful right uppercut was Arizona Land Income Corp. (AZL). Just how good was it, you ask? Good enough to net 7.05% and the gold medal in a week where everyone's getting skittish and talking about shorting everything they can find!!! Beautiful plays there, Biff!!! You ought not to be such a stranger on this part of the river!!

Let me tell you somethin', friends: there was nothing blasé about Jblaze's MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) play!! He blazed his way to a very strong 5.79% gain and the silver medal. As Johnny Storm would say, "Flame on!!" Great pick, Jblaze!!

Putting in an appearance all the way from his fortress of solitude under the North Pole is our bronze medal winner this week: faster than a speeding glacier, it's the Ice Man! With powers beyond those of mortal men! (Well, we let him think that anyway.) Playing one of his old favorites, ICO, Inc. (ICOC), he was able to ice-skate his way to a cool 5.51% pickup. Very nice, Ice!

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9
Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18
Week 19 | Week 20 | Week 21 | Week 22 | Week 23 | Week 24 | Week 25 | Week 26 | Week 27
Week 28 | Week 29 | Week 30 | Week 31 | Week 32 | Week 33 | Week 34 | Week 35 | Week 36
Week 37 | Week 38 | Week 39 | Week 40 | Week 41 | Week 42 | Week 43 | Week 44 | Week 45
Week 46 | Week 47 | Week 48

p.s. Oh yeah .... and, Billy? We'll let you slide on that dividend thing.

[skiracer]

Rob,
MED Long please. That was a great play Park. Can't believe you exited so soon. Barring someone else coming from back out of the pack I need MED to go to 13.55/13.60 range to just sneak in. Still a little bit of time left.

Rob,
This was my original post and it was posted at 1:24 pm. I'm not irritated or being defensive about any of it, but I am confused about how the post could possibly be misconstrued to the point where the buy could possibly be put in at the price at 2:20 pm instead of 1:24 when it was originally posted regardless of the time stated for the edit. Could you explain to me the rationale behind how it could be taken that I could get the price at 2:20 pm instead of 1:24 pm. Whose interpretation would that be up to anyway?

[jiesen]

Rob,
This was my original post and it was posted at 1:24 pm. I'm not irritated or being defensive about any of it, but I am confused about how the post could possibly be misconstrued to the point where the buy could possibly be put in at the price at 2:20 pm instead of 1:24 when it was originally posted regardless of the time stated for the edit. Could you explain to me the rationale behind how it could be taken that I could get the price at 2:20 pm instead of 1:24 pm. Whose interpretation would that be up to anyway?

It's just how the rules work, Ski. Rule 8 says not to edit the post where you make your pick, or you might have some unexpected consequences:

Rule 8: If you enter a pick before the market opens, you will get the opening price. If you enter a pick during the trading day, your opening price will be determined by the time stamp on your post. Your price will be the opening price of the minute in which your post is made. Important: do not edit your post in which you make your stock pick! If you do, then the prices at the time of the post and of the edit will be compared, and you will get the higher of the two in the case of a long position, or the lower of the two in the case of a short position. (The opposite of these holds true for a post in which you close a position.)

And of course, all interpretation is left up to the scorekeeper.

[Rob]

Do not take it personally, Skiracer, because I would not suspect you of trying to do anything underhanded. It just seems like a really good policy that no one should ever edit their pick posts ... just to keep all the honest people honest, you know? Those time stamps on the messages are very important for running a fair contest. As it happens, this time I did see your post before you edited it anyway. But I've always strongly discouraged people from editing the posts in which their picks are made.

[IIC]

I was a beta tester for Yahoo Finance message boards, but they never listened to my suggestions. As a matter of fact, they did just the opposite...

Maybe they did listen???

[IIC]

Congrats to Park, Blaze and Me...YIPPEE!!!...IceMan